Chapter 395 - 396: Giant Siege

A few days later, at dusk, as the last rays of the setting sun swept across the spires of Hogwarts, Sagres had just finished a lesson on the application of protective spells.

Suddenly, a dull roar came from outside the castle.

At first came the muffled thud of boulders striking something, like distant thunder. Then a harsh metallic scraping sound tore through the air, as though some giant beast were clawing at an invisible barrier.

The entire castle began to tremble violently. The torches along the walls flickered, and dust fell from the ceiling.

The students turned pale, but they all tried to remain calm, no longer panicking as they had during the previous attack.

Sagres walked to the window, and the sight before him made his brows furrow slightly.

Twelve giants stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, four times as many as before.

They remained at a distance, hurling stones at the castle’s protective enchantments. Their rough skin was covered in primitive runes drawn with ochre and fresh blood.

The giant leading them was exceptionally burly, standing more than seven metres tall like a moving fortress.

Around his neck hung a necklace made from Hippogriff skulls, while his chest and shoulders were covered in thick metal plates inscribed with protective spells.

Most alarming of all was the weapon in his hands: an incredibly thick spiked club forged entirely from some dark metal, its shaft covered in ancient runes glowing with a faint blue light.

“This time seems different,” Sagres murmured to himself.

The giant leader let out a deafening roar and advanced towards the castle with heavy steps, each one making the ground tremble.

As he entered the range of the protective enchantments, a golden barrier immediately lit up around the castle.

The giant leader walked straight up to the golden shield and, without hesitation, raised the enormous runic club.

The runes along its surface lit up one by one, like countless awakened vipers slithering across the metal.

Boom!

The moment the runic club struck the barrier, there were no sparks. Instead, rings of distorted black energy rippled outward.

Sagres narrowed his eyes, clearly seeing the ripples spread across the barrier like venom dispersing through clear water.

The golden shield visibly dimmed, and a web of cracks began spreading across its surface.

“Everyone, gather in the underground classroom immediately!” Sagres ordered decisively before heading towards the section of the castle where the protective enchantments were under attack.

The moment he stepped out of the classroom, a sharp sound like shattering glass came from outside.

The golden barrier that had protected Hogwarts for centuries finally collapsed beneath the giant leader’s last blow, scattering into golden dust across the sky.

The professors’ shouts began echoing throughout the castle.

The other giants immediately started hurling boulders directly at the castle. The stones smashed into the ancient walls, tearing open enormous holes.

“The protective enchantments have been breached?”

Outside the castle, Carbok waved his wand frantically, his face pale as he tried to repair the damaged defences.

But every time one crack was sealed, another attack tore open a new breach elsewhere.

Chaos erupted inside the castle.

Terrified screams and shouts filled the corridors, while the giants let out triumphant roars and began surging towards the breach.

Their heavy footsteps drew closer and closer.

The massive clubs in their hands easily swept aside anything blocking their path. Stone statues, railings, even trees were torn away by brute force.

The professors cast spells in an attempt to stop them, and colourful magical lights intertwined across the night sky.

However, the giants’ skin possessed astonishing resistance to magic. Most spells merely produced a few sparks on impact and did little to slow their advance.

Gravitz roared and fired a dazzling bolt of bright yellow lightning from the tip of his wand, striking one giant squarely in the chest.

But after a loud bang, the spell left only a scorch mark on the giant’s iron armour.

The giant grinned and strode closer, swinging his club.

Gravitz quickly cast an acceleration spell to dodge the spiked club, but a boulder was already hurtling towards him.

With the sickening crack of shattering bones, the experienced Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was instantly reduced to a bloody mass of remains.

“What happened?”

The Herbology professor’s voice trembled with fear. She had just waved her wand and conjured several thorny vines. Although the vines successfully wrapped around the legs of two giants, they left only a few shallow white marks on their rough skin.

“Where did they get those weapons and armour?”

The other professors had no time to answer her.

Everyone was frantically waving their wands in defence, translucent magical barriers flickering into existence before each giant’s attack and barely managing to block the fatal blows.

“No, we can’t hold them! We need to get the students out of the school!”

Before the professor could finish speaking, the giant leader broke through the defensive line. His runic spiked club tore through the air with a shriek as it came crashing down towards him.

Crack!

Sagres suddenly appeared in front of the giant, the wind whipping his black robes while the moonlight outlined his figure in silver.

Facing the advancing giants, he raised his wand without hesitation.

Brilliant white light erupted from its tip.

The next second, the spiked club in the giant’s hand suddenly began glowing bright red, as though it were being heated inside an invisible furnace.

Sagres slashed his wand sharply through the air.

At the same moment, all the metal armour, helmets, and weapons worn by the giants melted into red-hot molten iron.

The molten metal did not drip to the ground.

Instead, it floated in mid-air as though alive, instantly twisting into countless glowing, scorching serpents.

The giant leader watched in horror as his melted armour transformed into an iron serpent as thick as a bowl, twisting its way up towards his neck.

He instinctively tried to tear the terrifying thing away, but the moment his palm touched it, his flesh was badly scalded with a sizzling sound.

Sagres lightly tapped his wand.

All twelve iron serpents moved at once, precisely forcing their way into the mouths of the giants.

The scorching metal burned its way down their throats.

The giants immediately let out agonised screams and clawed frantically at their necks, but they were unable to stop the iron serpents from burrowing into their internal organs.

Under the moonlight, a horrifying red glow could clearly be seen shining through the giants’ skin from within, as though their bodies had become translucent lanterns.

Scalding steam poured from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, while the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

The giant leader dropped to his knees, his previously savage eyes now filled with unbearable pain.

He tried to roar, but the molten iron had already burned through his throat, leaving him capable only of a silent wail.

Within only a few breaths, all twelve giants collapsed one after another.

Their enormous bodies twitched beneath the moonlight as the red glow beneath their skin gradually faded, eventually leaving behind twelve smouldering corpses.

The professors stared blankly at the scene, their wands still raised in casting positions.

The battlefield fell into an eerie silence.

Only the faint sizzling of cooling molten iron could still be heard.

Sagres slowly lowered his wand and looked around, his gaze passing over every shaken face before finally settling on the breach that the boulders had smashed into the castle.

“Clear the battlefield and count everyone. Some of the stones the giants threw struck inside the castle.”